ngela Merkel’s exit from the stage is sparking fears of a hole at the guts of the ecu Union during challenging times — but there also are hopes for a wind of change.
Tributes are growing for the German leader — dubbed “Queen of Europe” by some observers after 16 years as chancellor — before elections this weekend to settle on a successor.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte praised Merkel’s “enormous authority” after helping steer Europe through years of turbulence that included the financial crisis, migrant crisis, Brexit and therefore the coronavirus pandemic.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who served under Merkel as German defence minister, underscored how important the previous physicist’s analytical skills had been for unlocking interminable EU negotiations.
She can always put things within the context of the various years in Europe she helped to shape,” von der Leyen said.
“And often, when we’ve hit an impasse, she’ll throw out a thought then we’re moving again. We’ll miss that.”
Of course, her departure leaves a void,” Janis Emmanouilidis of the ecu Policy Center told AFP.
He called the departure of the EU’s longest-serving current leader “the end of an era” for the 27-nation bloc.
Few will remember Merkel for any visionary speeches on Europe’s future.
But it’s been her much-touted image as a practical manager that has seen her help to take care of unity inside the EU during a period Emmanouilidis dubbed one among “permanent crisis”.
He said she had shown “continuity and firmness”, qualities that have made her the pre-eminent leader in Europe.
“The next chancellor will first need to gain stature before having the ability to seem to exchange her during this role.”
Merkel’s steady hand has seen her carve out a positive reputation across much of the continent.
In a survey administered in 12 EU countries by the ecu Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), 41 percent of respondents said they might back Merkel if during a vote for the fictional role of EU “president”.
Merkel’s approach of checking out compromises between competing interests may be a major source of Berlin’s positive image,” the think-tank said.
But she has also attracted criticism for her handling of some key challenges.
During the eurozone debt crisis of the first 2010s, Merkel was lambasted for the delay in coming to the help of indebted countries, like Greece, spurring fears of a collapse of the only currency.
She then drew widespread popular ire in Greece for the swingeing conditions imposed on Athens under a bailout.
‘HESITANCY’
Former European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker hailed Merkel for opening Germany’s borders during the 2015 migrant crisis and helping craft a 750 billion-euro rescue plan from the pandemic.
But he pushed back at those portraying her because the saviour of Europe.
“It is that the German narrative that might wish to present it as if she had been at the origin of all the solutions to those serious crises,” Juncker said.
I don’t underestimate the role she played, but i’m faraway from overestimating it after having experienced her hesitancy.”
Former Spanish secretary of state Ana Palacio in an article criticised Merkel’s “strategy of expecting desperate situations to involve desperate measures”.
She argued that this has “often benefited those that break the rules”, like right-wing Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, accused of dragging his country faraway from European values.
Merkel departs with the EU facing a raft of historic challenges — from recovering after the pandemic, to fighting global climate change and fashioning a geopolitical role for a Europe caught between the us and China.
“Many of the foremost pressing challenges Europe faces are impossible to deal with with the Merkel method,” analysts from the ECFR wrote, insisting they require “not only cosmetic changes but political support for more radical solutions”.
“The EU will need a more visionary and courageous Germany to strengthen its fo
